Host With a Host of Opportunities

Ellen DeGeneres is going to Siegfried and Roy’s house.

“I’m dying to meet those big cats,” DeGeneres said, referring to the pair’s tigers.

DeGeneres really will visit with Siegfried and Roy while she’s in Las Vegas, but she’s ostensibly there to be the host of “Divas Las Vegas,” a music special airing at 9 p.m. Thursday on VH1. The show is the fifth such special from the cable network and this year features the Dixie Chicks, Cher, Mary J. Blige and Celine Dion in concert from the MGM Grand. It’s a Vegas preview for Dion, who in 2003 will take up a two-year residence at Caesar’s Palace. Wayne Newton is the show’s announcer.

As for DeGeneres, she’s back on tour doing stand-up comedy after the less-than-a-season run of her CBS sitcom, “The Ellen Show.” “I’ve finally--I mean, it takes me a while to catch on to this business--I don’t take it personally,” DeGeneres said, adding that CBS Television President Leslie Moonves gave her more than a fair shake, even if there wasn’t “a place for us on the CBS lineup.”

DeGeneres, who drew raves as the host of last year’s Emmy telecast, is set to try her hand at a syndicated talk show sometime next year. “It’s a job I think I’m made for,” she said.